Elastic-fluid turbine.



C. G. 0113211151:??- BLASTlG FLUID TURBINEL* APPLICATION FILED NOV. 12'. 1906.

`P altelltec Sept 6,

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEICE.

CHARLES G. CURTIS, or NEW YORK, N. Y., GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TQ CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. A

ELASTICTELUID TUEBINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

Application filed November 12, 1906. Serial No. 343,102.

condensation in the casing within the dif.

ferent stages of a stage expansion turbine, whlch water will have a braking action upon therotor, and also to improve the eliiciency by converting a certain proportion of the invention.

water of condensation 'into steam,y which may be used in successive stages.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Y fr Figure l represents a section of aJ-,horr zontal turbine, of six stages; Fig. 2 is a detail view of a a transverse section of the F ig. 2.

- In all of the views, like parts are designated by the same reference characters.

In the turbine illustrated, the six stages are shown as formed within one shell, the stages being separated by diaphragm. The invention, however, may be carried out in any form of turbine, no matter how the separate stages are made. v

type shown in In the drawings, l represents the shell.-

and 2, 2 the diaphragm, dividing the shell into stages. 3 is the 'shaft which supports the rotating element (not shown).

a, 56, d, 'e and f are the stages. Within each stage is a series of fixed andvlnoving buckets, of any form. The entrance vto the first stage and to each succeeding stage is made by means of a nozzle 2a. I desire it to be distinctly understood that any forml ot' nozzle may be used, the particular nozzle illustrated forming no portion of my present i In operation, a certain amount of steam (it depends upon conditions) will condense in 'each' stage.- If 'the water of condensation be allowed to accunmlatc, it

will have a detrimental braking action upon' the moving element. If it is drained oii, the eiiiciency of the turbine will be considerably reduced owing to the-"loss of heat carried modification, and Fig. 3 isA 0E by the water. In order-to prevent this reduction of efiiciency, I provide means for permitting the water of condensation to pass successively from a stage of high pressure to one of lower pressur, whereby, owing to its higher temperatu e than the steam contained in the receiving stage, a certain proportion of water will be recon. verted into steam and be utilized.

O ne means of carrying out Athis invention is to provide tubes or pipes 4, 4 connecting adjacent stages. They `can communicate with the lower sides of the shell.- Suitable valves, as 5, may be introduced in the pipes in order to regulate the flow of water through them. As the dierence in pressure between two adjacent stages is considerable, the water ifV condensed in the higher pressurestage will vbe forced by the difference in pressure between the stages into the adjacent stage. "The valve is provided so that the amount of water passing through maybe regulated and losses thereby prevented. Y

' A modification is shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in which thepipes 4x. instead of passing -directly into the stages pass into chambers 6, which communicate with the stages and permit. the water of condensation to remain in considerable quantity without causing a` bra-king action upon the rotating element within that stag lThese chambers are so proportioned as to give a somewhat shallow body of water' in them. This'is an advantage as it presents a. large surface of water for evaporation. g

In Figs. 2 ,and 3, one, ofthe pipes 4 is provided with a draw-Cif cock 7 .which -is useful for relieving the staged ofthe surplus condensed water. Similar draw-ofi' cocks may be provided in the pipes connecting the other stages. By connecting the drawoif cocks directly with the pipes, the water of condensation may be drawn off from the pipes as well as from the shells. ,same modification, the different pipes are shown as communicating with alternate sides In the of the stages. As shown'in Fig. 6:1 pipe to a stage connects upon one side of the chamber 6 while the pipe from that stage connects with the other side, These pipes may be diagonally located below theshell, 'so that this arrangement may be secured. By' this .construction the water must enter a chamber .A6 'and .pass across its entire length. before it has an opportunity to go out, which will insure circulation and prevent thel accumulation of a body of water at a lower' temperar-ture than the temperature ot the steam stages, a, e, c, d, e', 7", work withthe tol- ."10'

fconsequently .the water of condensation in chamber t will readily flow into 6,' the difference inf temperature between aand b will' Fas tionof the water of ,condensation within fthe, stage received from the stage a. This lowing pressures; stage a, 60 pounds; b, 20 pounds, and c 1 pound gage.;l d, 5 inches, e

1 5 inches,4 and f, 211 inches' oli' vacuum.

These will give absolute pressures lapproxi- Qma'tely of 80; 4 0; 20; 10; 5, and 2.5 pounds to 1 '5 the square inch for the several stages.A The temperatures will be approximately 312; 267; 299; 195; 162', 134 `,degrees Fahrenheit', orthe several stages. Taking the first two stages,`viz., a and b, the difference in pres- -surebetweeir the two. will be 110 pounds,

bexabout' 44,43 degrees' Fahrenheit." This will' cause a revaporation of some proporrevaporated steam being of the same pressure' as the"steam within the stage b, will be applied .to the doing of' useful work.

.Aside'rom the 'saving by avoiding the braking actionof the condensed-water withthe shell, a urther saving will thereby 'be secured. v

The invention may-be equally well used 'with a plurality of turbines working in separate shells, providing there be a difference finfpress'ure' between the di'er'ent turbines.

In -accordance with the provisions of the patent' statutes, CT have described the principle of my invention, togetherwith the ap- -paratuswhich I Vno wconsider to represent the lbest embodiment thereof; but I desire v.tOf-have it yunderstood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative and that the inventionc'an be carried out in other .ways Having Lnow particularly described and l ascertained fthe nature of my invention and in what manner the'same maybe performed,

I declare that what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is:

1. vA multi-stage elastic Huid turbine having a plurality of stages, a nozzle in each stage for introducing fluid into the stage, there being a chamber in the stage, 55 the said chamber being at the bottom of the shell, and arranged to retain water of condensation away from the' rotor, and a passage connecting the chamber with acharnber in another stage.

2. lA multi-stage elastic fluid turbine, having a chamber in a stage, the said chamber being at the bottom of the shell, .and arranged to retain water ot condensation away from the rotor, the said chamber being so lproportioned as t-o-give a somewhat shallow body of water in it, therebeing a passage connecting `the chamber with a stage of ditferent pressure.

3.v A multi-stage elastic fluid turbine, having a horizontal shaft, a cylindrical shell, the said shell beingdivided into stages of dierencev 'of pressure, the said shell vwithin a stage being so formed as to produce a flat chamber, the said chamber being so proportioned as to give a somewhat shallow body of water in it,there being a passage connecting-the chamber with a stage of dierent e pressure.

` a. A multi-stage elastic fluid turbine', hav- 8,0 ing a shell divided into a plurality of stages, avchamber Within each stage, the said chamber being at the bottom of the shell' and Aarranged to retain water of condensation away fronrthe irotor, and. connecting pipes outside of the shell and communicating between the differentstages, the said pipes communieating with the chamber on alternate sides so that the water entering a chamber will pass across its entire length before it has anA opportunity to go out. y

. This specification signed and witnessed this seventh dayv of November, 1906.-

CHARLES c. courts. 

